Key support



Sept. 14, 1937. R. c. LEGAT 2,093,327

KEY SUPPORT Patented Sept. 14, 1937 PATENT v OFFICE KEY SUPPORT Robert 0. Legat, New Britain, Conn., assignor to G. E. Prentice Manufacturing Company, New Britain, 001111., a corporation of Connecticut Application June 5, 1936, Serial No. 83,659

5 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved key supporting arrangement particularly adapted to be employed in key cases, for example, of the conventional leather type. More particularly the present invention aflords an arrangement to facilitate the individual removal of key hangers .from the supporting plate or case when desired. Often the user of a key case prefers to remove certain hangers so that only a few hangers and keys are retained with the case thus permitting the latter to be more compact and more conveniently carried in the pocket or handbag. Furthermore it is sometimes desirable to interchange the position of the hangers and keys or to remove and replace a damaged hanger.

The present invention particularly aflords a simple, trouble-free arrangement permitting the removal of any selected hanger when desired but ordinarily arranged so that the hangers are securely retained on the supporting plate. For this purpose, the hangers are pivotally mounted on the upper end of a supporting plate the body portion of which may be secured to the key case. A retainer is associated with this planar portion of the supporting plate beneath the pivotal connections with the hangers, this retainer normally being effective in preventing the removal of the hangers from the support but being movable to permit removal of the hangers. Preferably the retainer is in the form of a retaining plate which.

may be pivotally connected to the lower part of the supporting plate so that it may swing away from the same. The supporting plate may be provided with slots through which portions of the hangers or hanger supports extend. When the retainer is swung away from the supporting plate, enlarged portions of these slots may be uncovered so that heads of the hangers of the hanger supports may be removed through these enlarged portions,-thus permitting separation of the hangers from the supporting plate.

Further details of the invention relate to the specific arrangement of the structure of the supporting plate and the retainer whereby the latter may be ordinarily held in its normal position yet may be moved out of the same when desired. Another aspect of the invention relates to the arrangement of the openings in the supporting plate which cooperate with the arrangement of the retainer in permitting the detachable mounting of the hangers or hanger supports.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front 'elevational view of my improved key hanger assembly showing the same secured to a conventional enclosing case, the latter being in its open position and certain of the hangers and hanger supports being removed;

Fig. 2 is a section indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the assembly with the retainer swung to its open or nonlocking position;

Fig. 4 is a section elevated by line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an'end or edge elevation of the supporting and retaining plates in their normal relative positions; and

Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 2 but showing an arrangement whereby a hanger is directly connected to the supporting plate rather than being connected thereto by a hanger support.

The accompanying drawing may be referred to as presenting preferred exemplifications of the present invention, the numeral I designating a conventional key case which may be formed of leather or the like. This case is provided with an intermediate portion to which a supporting plate l5 maybe secured as by rivets l6, Fig. 3.

The case is also provided with the conventional side portions or flaps which normally are fastened in overlapping position when the case is closed. The plate l5 may beformed of a sheet metal blank shaped to provide a substantially semi-cylindrical upper bead l1. Before this head is formed a plurality of openings 18 may be provided in the upper part of the plate, these openings may have the form of inverted keyhole slots, so that the portions thereof which are included in the beaded part of the plate have generally parallel vertically disposed sides, while the lower enlarged portions thereof are disposed in the planar body portion of the plate below its beaded portion, as particularly shown in Fig. 3.

The principles of this invention may be employed either with hanger supports which are pivotally connected to the upper part of the supporting plate and in turn support the key hangers, or it may be employed when the hangers are directly connected to the supporting plate. For example, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the hanger supports 20 may be of hook-like form having neck portions normally extending through the slots [8 and having heads 22 normally engaging the back of the beaded portion of the supporting plate. These hook-like supports may receive the upper ends of wire key hangers 25 of any desired form.

It may be noted that the diameter of the head 22 of each hanger support 20 is greater than the width of the narrower part of each slot l8 but less than the diameter of the enlarged lower portion thereof so that when the head is moved downwardly to the lower portion of the slot the hanger may be removed from the supporting plate as shown in Fig. 3.

In accordance with this invention, a retainer 30 may be provided normally to cover the enlarged lower portion of the slots I8 toprevent removal of the hangers in this manner except when desired. The retainer 30 may be movably mounted on the planar body portion of the supporting plate in order to close the enlarged por tions of the openings I! in any suitable way. Preferably, however, hinge connections 33' are provided between the lower portion of theretainer Ill and the supporting plate so that the retainer may be swung downwardly away from the slots ll to the position shown in Figs. 3 ends.

As shown particularly in Fig. '5 the ends of the retainer 30 may be provided with tabs II which may have a frictional or snap engagement with the ends of the supporting plate so that the retainer isnormally held in its locking position shown in Fig. 1 to close the enlarged lower ends of the openings l8. When it is desired to move the retainer from its normal locking position, it may be released, for example, by engaging the fingernail under one of. the flanges 3|. It may furthermore be noted that the hangers and keys when in the normal position shown in Fig. 1 tend to aid in holding the retainer 30 in its normal position and that there is little possibility of its accidentally being moved out of that position.

The upper edge of the retaining plate 30 is provided with indentations l6 registering with the slots I 8 (Figs. 2 and 3). The sheet metal of these indentations bulges-substantially into the plane of the adjoining part of the planar portion of the supporting plate (Fig. 2) and extends somewhat above the enlarged portion of each opening ll. Such an arrangement prevents the movement of the hanger 22 downwardly to a position wherein its head might engage the back of plate 30, whereupon, if it were pulled outwardly, it might be eflective in loosening the retaining plate 30.

As shown in Fig. 6 the principlesof this invention may also be employed when the hanger is directly connected to the supporting plate. Such a hanger 40 may be of generally hook-like form being provided with an enlarged head portion ll received in the beaded part I! of the supporting plate corresponding to that described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5. Such a hanger may be retained in its normal position by a retainer Ill having the form already described, while, when the retainer is swung to its open position, the hanger may be removed as shown with reference to the hanger support in Fig. 3.

' It is thus apparent that the connection between the hangers and supporting plate may be afforded either by the hangers themselves or by suitable hanger supports.

, It is evident that the present invention aifords a simple, inexpensive means allowing the detachable mounting of hangers or hanger supports on a supporting plate and that such means may readily be manipulated when desired but that it is not liable to accidental release.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A key supporting assembly comprising a mally engaging the rear surface of the beaded margin of the plate, a metal retainer hingedly connected to the lower part ofv the supporting plate and having an upper portion normally closing and covering the enlarged portions of. said openings, said retainer being swingable from its normal position to permit the heads to be removed through the enlarged portions of the openings whereby the hangers may be removed from the support, said retainer having means fric- -tionally retaining it in normal position to close the enlarged portions of said openings.

2. A key supporting assembly comprising a metal supporting plate having a planar body portion and a beaded upper end, the upper part of said plate being provided with openings having slot-like upper portions extending into the metal of the beaded portion and having enlarged lower portions, a plurality of key hangers having connections with the beaded portion of the'supporting plate, said connections providing parts extending through said openings and heads normallyengaging the rear surface of the beaded portion of the plate, a retainer hingedly connected to the lower part of the supporting plate and having an upper portion normally closing the enlarged portions of said openings, said retainer being swingabie from its normal position to permit the heads to be removed through the enlarged portions of the openings whereby the hangers may be removed from the support, said retainer having indentations in its upper margin to extend into said enlarged portions of the opening and to prevent the downward movement of the connections to a position wherein the heads might be effective in dislodging the retainer from its normal locking position.

3. A key supporting assembly comprising a metal supporting plate having a planar body por-.

tion and a beaded upper margin protruding above the front surface of said body portion, the upper part of said plate being provided with openings having slot-like upper portions extending into the metal or the beaded margin and having enlarged lower portions in'said planar body portion, a plurality of key hangers having connections with the beaded portion of the supporting plate, said connections providing parts extending through said openings and heads normally engaging the rear surface of the beaded margin of the plate, a planar metal retainer movably connected to the supporting plate, said retainer normally extending in front of and concealing the enlarged portions of said openings, and while in this position preventing said parts of the connections from moving into the enlarged portions of the openings, said retainer being bodily movable away from its normal position to permit such a movement of the connections so that the heads may be removed through the enlarged portions of the openings and the hangers thus separated from the supporting plate.

4. A key supporting assembly comprising a metal supporting plate having a planar body portion and a beaded upper margin protruding above the front surface of said body portion, the upper part of said plate being provided with openings having slot-like upper portions extending into the metal of the beaded'margin and having enlarged lower portions in said planar body portion, a. plurality of key hangers having connections with the beaded portion of the supporting plate, said connections providing parts extending through said openings and heads normally engaging the rear surface of the beaded margin of the plate, a planar metal retainer, hinge means pivotally connecting the retainer to the supporting plate, said retainer normally extending in front of and concealing the enlarged portions of said openings and while in this position preventing said parts of the connections from moving into the enlarged portions of the openings, said retainer being bodily swingable away from its normal position to permit such a movement of the connections so that the heads may be removed through the enlarged portions of the openings and the hangers may thus be separated from the supporting plate.

5. A key supporting assembly of the class de-' scribed comprising a metal supporting plate having an upper beaded portion, the upper part of the plate having a plurality of openings with slotlike upper portions extending into the beaded portion of the supporting plate and with enlarged lower portions, hanger supports having parts extending through the openings and heads normally engaging the back of the beaded por-- tion, a metal retainer, hinge means pivotally connecting the retainer to the supporting plate, said retainer when in its normal position concealing and closing the enlarged portions of the openings and underlying the beaded portion of the supporting plate, said retainer being bodily swingable to uncover said openings and permit movement of the heads through the same, and hangers mounted on the respective hanger supports.

ROBERT C. LEGAT. 

